Now more than ever we are surrounded by electronic devices that are giving off, what is known as, electromagnetic radiation (EMR). For most devices that give off EMR, such as microwaves, people generally do spend a lot of time near. But one device, cellphones, are becoming a major health concern as nearly two billion people around the world are keeping them on their persons nearly all day everyday.
Studies, most notably a 1993 study from Dr. George Carlo, have found that EMR given off by cellphones may be linked to brain tumors, genetic damage, various cancers, and other exposure-related conditions. Despite these studies cellphones remain more popular then ever and government regulators and cellular companies will not admit their existences.
In the early 1980’s, when private companies first began to sell cellphones to the public, these companies managed to be granted permission to sell cellphones without any premarket safety testing by pressuring government regulatory agencies, especially the Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA). This pressure worked and today cellphone remain virtually unregulated. Despite this cellphone industries today, much like the tobacco industry once were, seem to be fully aware of the health problems their product causes because while they are not informing to any health concerns many cellphone providers include liability waivers in the fine print of their service contracts.
One reason why the public has not been made more aware of cellphone’s health concerns is that, while strong evidence supports the correlation between cellphone use and these health problems, it is, at this time, impossible to prove causation. The problem is, much like with cigarettes; the health problems caused by consistent exposure to EMR from cellphones take many years to develop. Just as you don’t get cancer immediately after smoking your first cigarette, you don’t get cancer immediately after touching your cellphone. Due to the decades it takes for these problems to develop it’s hard to pinpoint cellphones as the cause without decades of research.
The problem is as we wait the necessary amount of time for studies to be confirmed we are giving the health problems the necessary amount of time to develop. According Dr. Carlo, who continues to research the topic, “we come to the irrefutable conclusion that there’s a major health crisis coming, probably already underway,” warns Dr. Carlo. “Not just cancer, but also learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, autism, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and psychological and behavioral problems—all mediated by the same mechanism.” Cellphones are already cool, addictive, and increasingly popular, if further studies prove their link to cancer they may just end up being this generation’s cigarettes.
Work cited:
“The Hidden Dangers of Cell Phone Radiation.” LifeExtension.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2014.
Hardell L, Mild KH, Carlberg M, Hallquist A. Cellular and cordless telephone use and the association with brain tumors in different age groups. Arch Environ Health. 2004 Mar;59(3):132-
Diem E, Schwarz C, Adlkofer F, Jahn O, Rudiger H. Non-thermal DNA breakage by
“Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results ProgramTurning Cancer Data Into Discovery.” Cancer of the Brain and Other Nervous System. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2014.
Personally, I really like this article, as it is so relevant. More and more people are purchasing and using cell phones every day. Currently, 90% of all Americans have cell phones, and 58% of Americans have smart phones (http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/mobile-technology-fact-sheet/). I thought it was really smart the way you connected it and compared it to how cigarettes used to be. I just hope that cellphones don’t turn out to be as dangerous as they did… At first when I read this post I thought you were going to talk about how cellphones are taking over people’s lives and how they are addicted to them, but I was pleasantly surprised. Lastly, I have to agree with Ethan’s comment when he brought up the file drawer problem. Cellphone companies are huge, and I’m sure they have something to do with less research being done. Regardless, it is unfortunate that not more is done, as if we found out they did cause harm, countless people would be affected.
This article is very relevant to our generation where our cellphones act almost as our third hand. I think I can confidently say that a majority of our generation are addicted to our cell phones, and constantly have it near us. I wasn’t aware of the lack of regulation in the cell phone industry. I can see a clear possible chance of a file drawer problem regarding studies correlating cell phone use to cancer. After reading this blog I decided to research this topic further and found very similar results to you. I viewed the national cancer institutes’ page on cell phone and cancer and found that there is definitely a huge risk but very inconstant data regarding the issue. This inconstancy can be attributed to bias, inaccurate reporting, participation bias, and changing technology and method of use. I feel like this issue is important and if cell phone use can cause cancer than it is not fair that people are left in the dark about something that could be potential harmful. This post was very interesting and brings up some important issues.(http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/cellphones) National Cancer Institute.
It seems as though research on the harms of cell phones are not very well looked into so cell phone research is experiencing the file drawer problem. This is not allowing consumers access to knowledge that the phones we can’t live without may be hurting us. One of the big issues you covered but didn’t go into detail also is the social effects phones are having on some people. People go to texting now instead of talking to people and this is giving people a reason to not ever have to go out and socialize with people. This article: http://www.breezejmu.org/opinion/article_1efb31fe-d0d7-11e3-9eae-001a4bcf6878.html discusses the change in how we socialize and the power of smart phones nowadays. Cell phone companies covering up the possible dangers of the technology are really worrying me because if cell phones turn out to be just as dangerous as cigarettes not just people who smoke are affected but practically the whole world will be.